


Blessing

by Tezca



Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Alternate Universe - Aliens, Alternate Universe - Sci Fi, Coffee Shops, Crowley Loves Kids (Good Omens), Crowley adopts an abandoned baby, Crowley is Good With Kids (Good Omens), Fluff, Gen, Light Angst, M/M, Mention of Child Abandonment, Single Dad Crowley, Some Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-25
Updated: 2020-07-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:22:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25508170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tezca/pseuds/Tezca
Summary: Somewhere out there in the vast expanse of space, there are a variety of aliens, different civilizations and Crowley explaining how he ended up with a baby.
Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley
Comments: 4
Kudos: 13
Collections: Holly Jolly July: a Good Omens Gift Exchange





	Blessing

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sk3tch](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sk3tch/gifts).



> I wrote this fic for the Holly Jolly July Christmas event in the GO-Events server which was a lot of fun! I want to thank losyanya for all her help with beta'ing this fic!

Somewhere in the far reaches of the universe, there lay a dingy, rundown cafe - can’t cafes on other bloody planets look just as nice as the majority of the ones Crowley had seen during his time on Earth? Too much to ask for apparently - on a planet where the sky looked more mint green than blue. The aforementioned Crowley was in said place, and the sounds of patrons, cups and coffee machines going off faded off into mere muffled background noise as an invisible cocoon of psychic energy surrounded the little table area.

And Crowley wasn’t the only occupant of this silent bubble. Across from him was Aziraphale, someone who had come from the same stock as him but from a different tribe. Crowley had long, dark red hair that flowed gracefully down his back, and was dressed in an elegant black robe with deep red accents. Meanwhile, Aziraphale had short whitish-blond curls with a robe that was the complete opposite. Stark white with golden accents, filled with intricate patterns unlike the more simplistic snake patterns of Crowley’s.

And lastly, the other being with Crowley was inside a baby sling carrier that he had slung around his chest. Other than that, there were just the usual things you would find at a cafe: a cup of coffee for Crowley and cocoa for Aziraphale. Of course, the baby didn’t have anything to drink because, well, she was a baby.

“It really is quite something to see the baby in real life as opposed to on a screen,” Aziraphale marveled, “Didn’t you tell me she was abandoned?” He pointed towards the sling, curious. Crowley had been in contact with his long distance boyfriend, well, husband now really, while hiding away on Earth. And the aforementioned planet had been long designated as protected by Galactic Law, so this was a very smart move to make for someone who tended to have shit backfire on him more often than not. 

Plus once someone had designated a planet as a nature reserve, it was thereby protected from any sort of disruption to said planet. This was to be taken seriously by all. Well, the majority realistically, there’ll always be scumbags who don’t give a shit about the wellbeing of innocent species and their land. But still, this was good news for the people on Earth - and alien space fugitives like Crowley - no one wanted to deal with the interplanetary police. Enough so that Earth - and other planets like it - were thankfully left alone.

(Let’s just say fifteen years prior - and about five before he met Aziraphale on the Universal Internet - he associated himself with a group of spacefaring criminals who ran afoul of the law somewhere in the Andromeda galaxy. He was the only one who wasn’t caught and decided to flee to Earth to wait for the aftermath of the failed heist to die down. He had banked on the great, vast distance between Andromeda and the Milky Way to help, and indeed it had.)

“Half human and yes,” Crowley said, one arm under the bottom of the sling while the baby slept happily against his chest. His other hand was around the cup of coffee he currently nursed. “I adopted her,” he finished casually.

Aziraphale meanwhile looked towards the other patrons at the nearby tables, worried as if someone was going to overhear despite the protective measures Crowley had put up. Crowley only slightly rolled his eyes as Aziraphale looked back at him, a quizzical look underneath unbridled embarrassment written all over his face, ”Apologies, but I’m still not sure I quite understand, you say she is half-human, but you’ve also said you adopted her-”

“Yeah?...” His voice was cautiously curious but casual at the same time. Crowley wasn’t sure where this was going. He was understandably confused, Aziraphale had been told about this before. He knew Crowley unexpectedly became a self-declared dad shortly before leaving Earth. Aziraphale even met the baby various times via holographic computer screen. For someone as clever as he was - a rare book collector and connoisseur of delectable foods from various planets - can’t act this stupid, can he?

Although Crowley did not have much room to speak, to be honest. For one thing, for all he knew about how to care and grow the many different exotic flowers and plants around space, he wasn’t too up on the nitty-gritty details about a lot of species. Take humans, for example; he would in no way, no how, nein, nyet and nope, never ever admit how long it was before he learned the details of human reproduction. 

Yes, yes he knew in general that humans stick Point A to Point B, just like with any other species. But, as he had been told by a certain blonde dingbat with an affinity for the frog aesthetic - *cough*Hastur*cough* - he thought humans just magically transported the baby out of their body whenever they were ready. How did he even let himself believe the idiot in the first place?

Oh right, he was either drunk or paid little attention whenever Hastur spewed his ‘knowledge’. Usually it was at the same time. Add in his propensity to not research as deeply as he should and, well, Crowley definitely learned by now to be very skeptical of anything that comes out of Hastur - and Ligur’s for that matter - mouth.

“-well, and...oh dear my apologies, I should’ve mentioned my confusion sooner, I mean, you are my beloved and beloveds shouldn’t keep things from each other...but I was worried you might think less of me because-” Aziraphale right then turned a few shades of red out of pure awkwardness and embarrassment.

Crowley rolled his eyes again and made a bit of a dramatic exasperated groan. He hoped his reaction didn’t come off too strong, since, well, this made sense. Aziraphale’s kind, the Edenians, tended to think of themselves as the smartest race in this section of the Galaxy. So naturally that had meant centuries upon centuries of bullshit propaganda that enabled them to hold each other to unrealistic standards and expectations of how one must conduct themselves. Luckily they weren’t the planet-conquering types as they tended to keep to themselves. 

However, Crowley’s kind was an offshoot of Aziraphale’s people who had long ago defected from the tribe and settled on a nearby planet. They called themselves a word incomprehensible to humans' ears that meant ‘The Snake People’.

And it’s not like Crowley was worried that Aziraphale still believed the lies and utterly false misconceptions that his lot loved to perpetuate. He wasn’t, but he knew there were still doubts and self-esteem issues that lingered because there had been asshats before who believed the stereotype that an Edenian had to be the cleverest in a room. 

And it certainly wouldn’t do Aziraphale any good if someone hypothetically made a snarky comment back, impatient that after ten years Aziraphale still had lingering insecurities about this. Crowley was not the person to do so in regard to one he cared for. But that would not stop him from making a dramatic facial expression however, like what he just did. 

(That hypothetical someone would find themselves on the floor with a broken nose courtesy of Crowley’s fist, by the way.)

Crowley dismissed Aziraphale’s unnecessary apology with a slightly annoyed wave of his free hand. He interrupted Aziraphale and reassuringly said, “It’s fine angel, just get to the point.”

(The angel descriptor here didn’t have anything to do with Aziraphale’s kind. It was just that, Crowley had picked up the affectionate terms while on Earth. One accidental slip of the tongue early on, and he’d been using it ever since.)

“Right, well,” Aziraphale cleared his throat and regained his composure, “If she is adopted and given the human civilization hasn’t discovered aliens yet, then wouldn’t that imply she is fully human?”

“You would think so, but she’s not. I’ve checked.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, with a scanner and everything. I even did a DNA test with a swap of her saliva,” Crowley explained as he leaned in a bit closer, as if this was the thing that might get him killed. There was a good amount of relief in his voice, “I’m glad I didn’t have to do a blood test honestly, Anathema wouldn’t like that at all.” He added, just as by coincidence the baby stirred and whimpered. As if she just overheard and decided to make her agreement be known. Crowley immediately sat back and cradled baby Anathema in his arms and rocked her gently until she fell back asleep.

“I imagine she would not, no baby would. Err, so what is the other half then?” He asked as he took a sip of his cocoa.

Crowley murmured a soft lullaby to the baby before he returned his attention to Aziraphale, “Auremi.”

Aziraphale’s eyes went wide with awe and astonishment. For a couple of seconds at least before he took on a pensive, concentrated look, “That means she would be….oh my, near immortal like us, wouldn’t she?” He exclaimed inquisitively. 

Crowley nodded, he was just happy they both didn’t have to deal with the tragedy of widely different life spans. Made things easier to be honest, not that he wouldn’t care for Anathema otherwise, but nobody wanted to deal with the reality of losing someone way before their time. So no one would blame him - and Aziraphale - for feeling comforted by the fact that they wouldn’t have to be burdened with the harrowing thought.

Crowley smiled in affirmation, “Yep. I did the calculations angel, give or take a year or two, we’ll all live for almost an eternity.”

Aziraphale took a moment to let it sink in before he moved on to the next question that rose out of what Crowley told him of the baby’s heritage, “Will her human side cause any issues? I only ask because there are foods and drinks out there that would harm a human.”

Crowley nodded, “Yes, but there are plenty of other foods that humans can eat. I’m going to be careful though, certainly don’t want to risk anything until she is old enough and we’re there just in case it all goes pear-shaped. This is almost unprecedented.”

“Almost? What do you mean by that?”

“I mean there has been species intermingling between a human and another race but that has only been recorded once, and I only came across it by happenstance.”

“Oh well, was it any sort of help?” Aziraphale asked, perhaps a bit lamely but he wanted to sound as hopeful as he was. He trusted Crowley deep down, even if sometimes he didn’t think things through. He impulsively adopted the baby out of the goodness of his heart, which just proved to support Aziraphale’s long-standing observations that Crowley was, deep down, a caring individual. He wouldn’t say it out loud though, Crowley still had some issues being called nice and whatnot.

And plus, there was no denying that Crowley was always the better one with kids and plants alike. Crowley explained, at first with a bit of an annoyed sigh but perking up quickly, “Just barely, the two kids that I read about were able to eat some food they normally wouldn’t if they were fully human. But that said, they still had to be careful. On the flip side, they were able to eat any kind of human food.”

“I see.” Aziraphale became more relaxed, “That does make things a little easier then.”

“Yeah, it shouldn't be too hard. I already know a few systems we can go to stock up on food that we all can eat.”

“I know a few myself too,” Aziraphale added with a bright smile, “So how did you end up with her?”

“The mother abandoned her by the front door of my ship. Thought I had the perception filter around it working, but just my luck it decided to malfunction. So there I was that day, going back to where I thought it was hidden somewhere outside of London for a bit of a checkup.” Crowley began.

Aziraphale gasped and tensed up straight, affronted that anyone would do such a thing to a defenseless, innocent baby, “Oh dear, the poor thing! I will never understand anyone that would willingly abandon a newborn like that.”

Crowley corrected him with his palm up towards Aziraphale to emphasize his point, “It’s not as black and white as it seems, angel, and she was two months old at the time. Really you should blame her sodding rat pustulant bastard of a father for all this mess,” he spat out, irritated at the whole situation. “Didn’t even tell her how to properly care for a baby that’s half Auremi.”

“Oh that doesn’t sound good,” Aziraphale commented, and Crowley shook his head, “So you obviously knew that then….wait, Crowley, that means you must’ve read a book!” His eyes were now wide with pleasant surprise.

Crowley rolled his eyes, a little annoyed but with no seriousness behind it. Leave it to Aziraphale to make even a slightly irrelevant comment, “I read it on the Internet, much faster. You should really try reading books on the internet, easier in a lot of ways. Also because of it, I got in contact with an Auremian woman named Agnes.”

“Anges? That doesn’t sound like-”

Crowley immediately cut off Aziraphale’s trail of thought, he really did want to stay on track with the story. “She’s been on Earth for a few centuries and picked up the name along the way,” Crowley explained, perhaps a little too fast but he just wanted to finish this story sometime this year.

(And was that a feeling of great coincidence that the person who was most able to help him was just conveniently living on Earth. Crowley didn’t question it too much however, just elated that someone was able to help out. Just chalked it up to a miracle really.)

Plus he really didn’t give a shit about what name someone wanted to go by. Who cares if another being wanted to go by something from another planet. Look at him for fucks sake, his choice of name was also from Earth, and he much preferred it to his actual one. He continued after he took a calming breath, “Anyways, to back up a bit, the mother left a two page letter. I still have it stashed somewhere, but the gist of it was the mother fell in love with the biological father. They dated, gave each other romantic gifts..whole nine yards. Then one day he just up and-and bloody fucking left! Without so much as a by-your-leave, probably hoping his powers had erased all of her memories of him.”

(Granted the claim of memory erasure was via his gut feelings, but one learned quickly in space to trust them. Especially if said gut belonged to a being with the ability to ‘read’ things and glean facts from the auras of their surrounding. Hence the sunglasses too, not only did they hide his more snakelike eyes from those not used to different eyes, they also helped to eliminate any chance of a headache from an unexpected abundance of unwanted information about the people around him.)

Aziraphale waited for a moment in case Crowley was going to continue, but it became clear he needed a brief second to calm himself lest he break into a vitrole fueled rant. He decided to speak up, “But obviously that didn’t work. She clearly must’ve known aliens actually did exist to leave it in front of your ship.”

Crowley inhaled then exhaled as he ran his free hand through his hair, “That was real bloody risky too. For all she knew it could’ve been Hastur or Ligur,” The redhead shuddered, he did not want to think about the what-ifs regarding those two former partners of his. Just saying he was glad he finally decided to be done with his past career choice was an understatement.

“She can’t have known the actual risk if she didn’t know much about the reality of...err other races, like us, existing. It’s hard I imagine when the only frame of reference a human has are those fictional cinematic films and tv shows they have created.”

Crowley nodded, “Yes, but the idea is all the same. Some of those movies depict evil aliens, others - benevolent aliens and in between. She just didn’t know the actual size of that risk, angel. I mean, take here, for example,” Crowley waved his arm to gesture to the rest of the cafe around them. Various beings of all colors, shapes and sizes mingled and talked with one another underneath the busy, but happy vibe of the place.

Crowley continued, “I guaran-fucking-tee you most of them don’t want anything to do with anything human.” 

Logically that might’ve been a stretch, maybe one or two, but certainly not the majority. At least given where this cafe was located, a city that prided itself on being a multilingual, multiethnic, inclusive place to live. To Crowley, however, he can’t help but make such a claim. It just sounded like the truth in his skewed perception. He didn’t want to admit it then and there, but he still had trouble believing otherwise after he met more than enough people with hostile attitudes towards the human race.

Aziraphale turned back to face Crowley with a put upon sigh and an eye roll of his own, “Crowley, don’t you think you’re sounding just a little too pessimistic? There are a lot more of us that’ll happily take in a human baby out of the kindness of their hearts. You, for instance.”

“What, me?” Crowley exclaimed incredulously, eyes wide behind his glasses, his mouth set into a scowl. He leaned in closer, clearly annoyed at the description used towards him, “I’m not known as kind, angel, that’s a four letter word. I spent too long stealing shit with people I wouldn’t trust to cook me dinner.”

Aziraphale rolled his eyes, more affectionate than anything, “Oh my bad, apologies. Stealing money to give to impoverished civilizations on other planets is such an evil, coldhearted deed to do,” Aziraphale deadpanned.

Crowley stared at him for a second then conceded. That part was very true and helping people in need was something he couldn’t really deny for too long. Especially when it involved Aziraphale. He gave a sigh of resignation, “Alright, fine.”

“And have you committed any more robberies in the past 15 years?”

Crowley shook his head, “No. I put that all behind me, angel, wasn’t for me,” Crowley’s voice was calm and casual now as he admitted the truth, “Was never for me at all but I had to do what I could to survive out here. Hadn’t been easy for me ever since I sauntered vaguely upwards from my tribe.” He mentioned, though he probably didn’t need to. He had told Aziraphale about that before, granted with not a lot of details. But he understood with just the barest minimum of an explanation.

(See what happened, to put it short and sweet, was that Crowley fell in with the wrong crowd of his tribe no thanks to the charismatic leader. He might’ve agreed with the reason why, but he realized too late that he didn’t want any part of a potential deadly revolution.)

“There, see. I do believe I made my point,” Aziraphale said with a gentle hand on Crowley’s arm and a loving smile.

“Fine, point taken.”

Aziraphale smiled proudly before he continued on, “Now you said you felt like the father might’ve tried to erase the mother’s memories, but that must not have worked then so err....”

Crowley nodded, “Yes, Agnes told me it was because of the baby’s latent powers. Usually in their species, the unborn baby will subconsciously protect the mother from any sort of attack, mental or otherwise.”

Aziraphale nodded then took a moment to look outside. The weather was still nice, but by then clouds seemed to have overtaken the clear sky. He hoped it wouldn’t start raining anytime soon, rain being such a calming sound no doubt, but it would be dreadful to walk in.

“I just remembered,” Crowley began, which brought Aziraphale’s attention back to him, “The baby was two months old when I got her right? Well, Agnes theorized the mother tried to take care of the baby to the best of her abilities until it got too much to handle. Two months is about the right time an Auremi baby starts showing their powers.”

“Oh dear,” Aziraphale said, his voice great with pity. The more he learned of this horrid, tragic situation, the more he felt ire and a desire to greatly scold the father, “What kind of abilities?”

“Stuff like levitating, moving objects with their mind and the like. Psychic-based powers basically.”

“I can see how that would get overwhelming fast for someone not used to it, much less someone who wasn’t even notified of that fact,” Aziraphale, at least, was not too surprised that someone pulled this stunt, but that would never stop him from being greatly saddened by the aftermath of acts such as the one committed by this deplorable person. Pissed that someone would have the audacity to even do such a thing.

“The father better hope I _never_ fucking meet him,” Crowley said with justified bitterness, his teeth showing as he spoke. A moment of silence passed as the weight of the subject started to wane. Crowley waved his hand as his face turned apologetic, “Sorry, angel, didn’t mean for the conversation to turn out as heavy as it was.”

“Oh don’t be, it’s my fault for asking in the first place. I should’ve waited another time when you were...err more prepared, mentally speaking,” Azirphale replied.

Crowley shook his head, “Nah, it’s alright. I get why you asked, I probably would’ve too, to tell you the truth,” Crowley confessed with a short, weak chuckle. He did want to move on from the topic but he wanted to give Aziraphale a chance for any last comments, “Do you have any other questions about it before we move on?” 

“No, not really, my dear. I figured you have a way to help control her powers anyways.” 

Crowley brightened up and nodded, “Oh yes, just a simple ward thing that doesn’t hurt anyone at all but helps negate collateral damage from an uncontrolled blast of psychic energy. Agnes taught me, anyone with psychic-based powers can do it.”

“Oh wonderful.”

Crowley nodded and the air changed to light and casual. By now, baby Anathema woke up from her nap and started to play around with a loose strand of Crowley’s hair as she babbled happily.

“How old is she now, Crowley?”

“Six or seven months,” Crowley answered as he diverted his attention to making cooing noises at the baby. After a few seconds, he turned to Aziraphale, “You know, that offer I made you before, about living with me and exploring space together, is still open.”

Aziraphale looked at him a little confused before he remembered just a scant moment later. Crowley had indeed offered that and wanted to give Aziraphale time to think on it. If Aziraphale didn’t want to become a space traveler then Crowley would be happy to live in this alien City with him.

The blond being smiled bright and nodded, “Yes. It’s indubitably ‘yes’, Crowley. You won’t believe how tiring it is slowly getting to keep customers from buying my books! Last month when I had to wait three weeks before you arrived felt like the longest I’ve ever lived.”

Crowley laughed without any real bite to it. He could make a quip about the customers, but it was just part of what made Aziraphale as he quickly learned. “Probably would make the most sense then since it would be hard for people to buy a book from a traveling spaceship,” he finished with a light tease.

“Indeed. Shall we head to my shop then and pack up?” Azirphale asked as he got up from his seat. 

Crowley beamed and followed suit. “Lead the way, my angel,” he stated as he gestured towards the door with his free arm.

Aziraphale mirrored his smile as they both made their way towards the door of the cafe and off into a wonderful life together.


End file.
